Jerry Needham: Aquifer rules not quite as costly

Officials at the Edwards Aquifer Authority indicate that the estimated $16 million cost for businesses to come into compliance with proposed new rules to protect the aquifer from hazardous materials may be too high.

That’s because a section of the proposed rules says that materials must be enclosed in a container capable of holding one and a half times the volume of the materials in case of a spill or leak.

But when the proposed rules were written, they were thinking of the contents of big-box stores — home-improvement outlets such as Lowe’s and Home Depot — and not petroleum storage tanks.

When authority consultants assessed the impact of the proposed rules, they concluded that tanks also would need the spacious containment — something not intended by the authority. They don’t expect gasoline station owners to dig up already-compliant double-walled tanks and build underground vaults to put them in.

That was the major concern of business owners in the last of the public hearings Thursday on the proposed new rules. A board committee on Nov. 27 is scheduled to consider comments and recommend amendments to the full board for approval of the rules at its Dec. 11 meeting.

Most of those commenting in the five public hearings applauded the authority for taking steps to toughen storage requirements for large quantities of hazardous materials on the recharge and contributing zones of the aquifer and many called for even tougher rules.

If the rules are approved, they would go into effect 10 days later and business owners would have 180 days to come into compliance.

The cost still could exceed $10 million for owners to comply, but most of those businesses are in areas that lie outside the jurisdiction of San Antonio, which already has regulations.